


2am

by cthink



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Angst, Cashton, Friendship/Love, Insomnia, M/M, One Shot, Protective Ashton, Sad Calum, Sleepy Cuddles, insomniac calum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-28
Updated: 2016-01-28
Packaged: 2018-05-16 21:33:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5841766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cthink/pseuds/cthink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Calum can't sleep.</p><p>That is, unless he's with Ashton.</p>
            </blockquote>





	2am

Ashton knew that noise all too well. The small, quiet tapping on the door to his hotel room, or wherever he was, really, in the dead of night, disturbing his sleep. And it was always followed by the noise of the door slowly creaking open, and a dim slit of light slicing through the darkness, stabbing Ashton's bleary eyes. He would bury himself deeper into his covers, desperate to just go back to sleep, but he never could.

"Ashton?" Calum whispered hesitantly. Ashton would never answer straight away, a greedy and selfish part of him willing Calum just to go away. But then again, that had happened the first time Calum had came to him; he'd left, and Ashton's guilt had gotten the better of him and he chased after him down the corridor.

"Ash... I can't sleep." Then Ashton turned over to face the young boy, only Calum's silhouette visible as he stood with his back to the light. With a muffled groan into the covers, Ashton beckoned Calum in so he'd shut the door and the light would stop bothering him. Calum hesitated slightly in the doorway, as he always did, before moving further into the room and shutting the door behind him.

Ashton knew how much Calum struggled with his insomnia. The Kiwi was never able to fall asleep, even late at night after a particularly tiring day. It wasn't good for him, especially with their busy lifestyle. It showed on Calum's face everyday; the way his eyes were surrounded by dark rings and bags, or how much energy it visibly took him just to smile. His energy on stage lagged; just in general, Calum was exhausted. Before he first came to Ashton, he would try to party his energy away, getting drunk and then crashing as soon as he got back. After deciding he could no longer deal with the pounding hangovers, alcohol soon turned to cigarettes. Late night walks in the city, smoking himself into a daze. After a while, though, even that stopped working. So he went to Ashton, because only Ashton knew how to lull him into a deep sleep.

Calum tried to be brave, and strong. Didn't let anyone else see how tired he was. Even though Michael and Luke had always known, he did his best to hide it from them. The two had a silent agreement never to mention it to Calum; never comment when Ashton and Calum would emerge from the same room in the mornings even if they hadn't been in the same room when they went to bed. Some days, Calum wouldn't even wake Ashton up, even if it meant he got just two hours of sleep in return. The following day, Ashton would always hiss at him, asking why he didn't bother to come and ask for help, but Calum would just shrug and say he wasn't tired. Ashton knew it was a lie, but he didn't argue back. He had learned from experience that when Calum was tired, he could also be very grumpy if provoked. Anyway, Calum's resolve always began to crack eventually; he could never keep his act up for long. Secretly, Ashton loved it when Calum came to him. It made Ashton feel special. No amount of sleeping pills helped. But for some reason, Ashton did. He was the only one who could coax Calum into unconsciousness. And no matter how much sleep Ashton lost because of it, he would always help him, because that was what Ashton did. He protected his band.

Despite the fact they were all practically men now, he would always look after them to the best of his ability. And if that meant waking up at 2 in the morning for one of them, Ashton would do it. He'd do anything for them.

Calum stood in the total darkness, hovering awkwardly at the foot of Ashton's bed and wrapping his arms around himself slightly, fighting off the cold air of the hotel room. Even from where he was, Ashton could see the way Calum's shoulders slumped forwards with tiredness; the thin grey T-shirt didn't do much to hide it either.

"You haven't been to sleep yet at all?" Ashton croaked out, his throat dry from sleep. The small shake of Calum's head told him all he needed to know. The younger boy rubbed at his eyes tiredly, eyelids drooping as he stood in silence, waiting for Ashton to say something.

"Come here." Ashton folded the edge of the covers up slightly, patting the bed and beckoning Calum to join him in his nest of warmth. Calum accepted the offer, shuffling into the bed quickly, as if he were scared Ashton would change his mind.

Ashton moved up slightly, to give Calum space. The mattress was cold from where it'd been untouched for hours, but Ashton didn't mind. As long as Calum was comfortable. He stretched his arm out to the side, so when Calum laid down, his head was resting on Ashton's bicep. Calum quickly pulled the covers up, shielding himself from the chill, before finally settling down and turning to face Ashton in the dark.

The two stared at each other for a moment, bleary eyes struggling to focus in the darkness. Ashton felt his own eyes slowly shutting, heavy with the need for rest, but before he could fully drift off, he was interrupted by a small, indecipherable noise from Calum. His eyes were open again in an instant, and he watched as Calum moved closer and buried his face in Ashton's chest. Ashton knew Calum loved the body contact, but his shyness usually meant he'd wait until after Ashton was asleep to move closer. Something was wrong.

"Calum?" Ashton whispered softly, his hand moving up to run his fingers through Calum's messy, curly dark hair. He could feel the younger boy start to _tremble_ slightly against him, and moved his arm around Calum's shoulders to pull him in closer. "Cal, what's wrong?"

He watched in horror as Calum started to whimper a little, and he felt a growing wetness on his chest through his shirt as the younger boy began to shake even harder. He was _crying_. And Ashton didn't like it when Calum cried, because in his mind, Calum deserved happiness, more than anyone else in the whole world.  
"I'm sorry..." Calum whispered out, muffled slightly and barely audible.  
"For what?" Ashton asked incredulously, startled slightly.  
"F-for being so stupid," Calum choked out, "I hate waking you up, it's so selfish...I'm just so tired." He was sobbing a little now, his hands balling up in Ashton's top.  
"Hey, hey, it's alright!" Ashton exclaimed. He didn't realise Calum felt this way. Clearly, the months of exhaustion had finally made Calum break. While, yes, being woken up in the middle of the night wasn't Ashton's favourite thing in the whole world, he'd happily do it every night for the rest of his life if it meant Calum was happy and healthy. "You're not a nuisance, Cal, I don't mind waking up!"

Calum sniffled a little.  
"Listen to me. You're not stupid, it's not your fault, okay? No ones perfect, Calum." Ashton stroked his hands down Calum's back, feeling the contrast of the soft material and even softer skin. He sighed with relief when he felt Calum nod a little against his chest.

He reached down to grab Calum's chin and tilted it up ever so gently so that the two were eye to eye again. He looked the tanned boy right in the eye to show him how sincere he was. Ashton could never allow Calum to believe he was stupid, because it was so far from the truth. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Calum's forehead, smoothing back his untameable hair. Then he reached back round to the back of Calum's head, and tucked him back into his chest, in the crook underneath his chin.

Calum let out a small sigh as the tiredness took over again, letting Ashton guide his exhausted body so he was somehow snuggled even further into Ashton's side, latching onto his body heat.  
"I love you..." Calum whispered against Ashton. Ashton froze. He knew it was probably just Calum's exhaustion-induced delirium talking, but he leant forward so his lips were pressed against Calum's head again.  
"I love you too, Cal." He murmured softly.

Ashton continued to stroke Calum's hair and back, all the while rocking Calum against him, so gently it was barely noticeable, until eventually, small sniffles faded into quiet, shallow breaths. Only when Ashton was sure Calum was fast asleep did he finally allow himself to close his own eyes, his fingers never unlatching themselves from Calum's soft, tangled locks.

Because Ashton would protect Calum with his life, and if he could help Calum in any way, even if it was just by doing something as basic as allowing the young bassist sleep, Ashton would do it in a heartbeat. Because Ashton _loved_ him.

**Author's Note:**

> Shameless Cashton one shot bc why not lol
> 
> Please leave comments, I love feedback!!


End file.
